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3 hours ago, theoldwizard said:

Disagree.  They could easily outsource the doors or build them at one of the plants already stamping aluminum.  Forget any kind of FRP.

 

Actually, for the small weight savings, why would the do it at all ?

So they can finally stop building steel doors and move production to a SD aluminium door?

Edited by jpd80
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4 hours ago, theoldwizard said:

Disagree.  They could easily outsource the doors or build them at one of the plants already stamping aluminum.  Forget any kind of FRP.

 

Actually, for the small weight savings, why would the do it at all ?

OK so;

You disagree that it will have composite doors?

 

Or, you believe new composite doors if true, are not indicative of a completely new cab? 

 

As for a weight saving, agree, I doubt that given nature of class 6 and 7 sales, weight savings of that magnitude-or should I say insignificance, would justify the expenditure.

 

What continues to surprise me is they still would be building two SD cabs- aluminum for SD up to 550 (600?), and steel cab for 650/750.

 

Like I said, Work Truck Show may have some surprises. 

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Just noticed Ice Capades has posted 2020 350-550 chassis order guides.

What is interesting to me is it makes no reference to 600.  IMO the 600 is a 550 with heavier spring and rubber options.  Plus more commonality to 550 than 650/750 which in my view would have lent itself to being included in 350-550 guides.

??????

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That is strange, why wouldn't the 600 be included with the 450-550 order guide?  Only thing I can think of is Ford wants to differentiate the 600 from the 550 from a marketing standpoint, which really makes no sense. 

 

Work Truck Show always has a few surprises, but with the crisis currently at Ford I am not expecting much from them outside of previously announced upcoming vehicles, like the 7.3L in the medium duty F series. 

 

The composite door thing is something I heard, I figure if they were going to use composite doors on the old Super Duty cab on the 650/750 it would be a cost savings move.  Medium duty doors don't need side impact protection, composite is lighter and cheaper, and who knows, maybe the steel Super Duty door stamping dies are worn out?

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Hey Bob, you always ask this.  I saw a new F750 with the words Metal Men on the sides. The only thing I can find on the internet is some kind of super heroes!  But anyway, it had a Powerstroke!  And Bob, I don't think the Eversource Ram was a bucket truck.  But still, as far as small support utility vehicles go, I still had never seen a Dodge/Ram Eversource vehicle.

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5 hours ago, 7Mary3 said:

That is strange, why wouldn't the 600 be included with the 450-550 order guide?  Only thing I can think of is Ford wants to differentiate the 600 from the 550 from a marketing standpoint, which really makes no sense. 

The F-600 wasn't on Ford's Web site the last time I looked (just now), so my guess is that it's not in the order guide because it's not ready for production yet. It's weird that it's not on the Web site, given that they have the '21 E-350/450 stripped chassis up there.

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5 hours ago, 7Mary3 said:

The composite door thing is something I heard, I figure if they were going to use composite doors on the old Super Duty cab on the 650/750 it would be a cost savings move.  Medium duty doors don't need side impact protection, composite is lighter and cheaper, and who knows, maybe the steel Super Duty door stamping dies are worn out?

That rumor doesn't make sense, IMHO. If they're ditching steel doors, why not jump directly to aluminum? It's not like they are lacking experience in using a mixture of aluminum and steel body parts. Why go to something completely unique?

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1 hour ago, SoonerLS said:

That rumor doesn't make sense, IMHO. If they're ditching steel doors, why not jump directly to aluminum? It's not like they are lacking experience in using a mixture of aluminum and steel body parts. Why go to something completely unique?

 

That's why I am asking.  However, for the record, the HN80 Louisville used a steel cab with composite doors.

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6 hours ago, 7Mary3 said:

That is strange, why wouldn't the 600 be included with the 450-550 order guide?  Only thing I can think of is Ford wants to differentiate the 600 from the 550 from a marketing standpoint, which really makes no sense. 

 

Work Truck Show always has a few surprises, but with the crisis currently at Ford I am not expecting much from them outside of previously announced upcoming vehicles, like the 7.3L in the medium duty F series. 

 

The composite door thing is something I heard, I figure if they were going to use composite doors on the old Super Duty cab on the 650/750 it would be a cost savings move.  Medium duty doors don't need side impact protection, composite is lighter and cheaper, and who knows, maybe the steel Super Duty door stamping dies are worn out?

 

Wonder what set of Econoline door stamp they are on since 91 when the current door started?

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This just in- there is a delivery hold on new 7.3L powered F and E series vehicles, problem is the piston oil cooler bracket may have been damaged during assembly resulting in a loss of oil pressure.  Looks like the fix is replacement of the engine in affected vehicles.  Might not be many engines with the problem, only certain VIN's, but it looks like a few F-650's and E series are included.  Production must have started on those models.  What is interesting is that I have been hearing that some people with 7.3L trucks on order are experiencing delivery delays, wonder if this is the cause.      

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11 hours ago, 7Mary3 said:

Supposedly, the next generation International MV will be a similar joint venture.

I hope they don't screw it up. We have a 2019 MV and i really enjoy driving it, and plan on buy another in a year or 2. Its has an L9 Cummins with 3500 series allison. I am not sure what GM can bring to the table of that truck, beside a gas engine.

 While I am on International, we have a HX520 Daycab tractor that has turned out to be a really nice truck.

 

-Matt

 

 

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53 minutes ago, MGolden said:

I hope they don't screw it up. We have a 2019 MV and i really enjoy driving it, and plan on buy another in a year or 2. Its has an L9 Cummins with 3500 series allison. I am not sure what GM can bring to the table of that truck, beside a gas engine.

 While I am on International, we have a HX520 Daycab tractor that has turned out to be a really nice truck.

 

-Matt

 

 

I'm not sure what a International would gain by doing a JV with GM for an MV replacement.  They went down that road once with Ford and the Bluediamond venture  but if I had to guess, I would say that benefitted International as they were getting plant utilization at Escobedo and development cost was minimal-the Fords were 4400 chassis with a Ford cab stuck on them..  Recognizing that the popular thinking today is that development costs are so high that everyone needs a partner to survive,  considering the VW merger could happen, do you think VW would want GM becoming a serious player in class 6 and 7?

 

Also, class 6 and 7 just keeps getting more competitive.  Mack is now in the game.  Hino gets stronger and stronger. And if Ford-currently the class 6 leader-doesn't pull the plug on 6 and 7 but rather invests in 6 and 7, the  market will be crowded.  

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